The Path to You
by siberianknight
Summary: Attempting to get away from his past, Sasuke moves to a small town and attends a private high school. There he and the new teacher, Uzumaki Naruto, are drawn to one another. Will Naruto help Sasuke or hurt him even more? longer summary inside
1. Chapter 1

_**Author's Notes**_: A few quick things before anyone dives into this. First off, I've been quite busy lately and it's been hard to put out a chapter every two weeks (as I usually try to do). So, it may be almost a month before the next chapter is done. It just depends on how much and how often I can write. Secondly, unlike my first story, this one is entirely an AU. Hopefully the characters won't seem to be off because I tried very hard to keep as much as possible of their original personality intact, but since I gave them different backgrounds some small parts of their personality has changed slightly. Lastly, this is a Sasuke-centric piece that is serious but mixed with goofiness from his fellow students. I hope that everyone enjoys this story as much as they did Broken Reflections.

**Summary**: After the death of his older brother, Sasuke has become distant and aggressive. He has moved away from his friends and family in Tokyo to the small town of Konoha where he plans to finish out high school. Everything at first seems to be going well for him. Most of the people leave him alone, but there are a few that seem to not fully understand his threatening glare or actual threats. Especially the new teacher, Uzumaki Naruto.  
Almost as young as his students, Naruto has been sent to the private school to replace a teacher who is MIA. He tries to fit in with the students, but there is one who wants to stay out of the circle that catches his eye. As much as Sasuke wants to separate himself from everything and be invisible, he stands out more than even loud-mouthed Kiba. The two feel a draw to one another, despite Sasuke's attempts to deny it. Can Naruto uncover what happened to Sasuke and put a smile back upon his face, or will his presence only deepen the young man's wounds?  
**Warnings**: (story) Language / Violence / Sexuality / Mentions of Rape / Angst / Yaoi / Lemons & Limes / (chapter) Language / Angst

This story is heavily inspired by Soryo Fuyumi's manga Mars, the JDrama Hana Kimi, and that wonderful Shippuuden ending -- Michi to you all (which is where most of my inspiration came from)  
Big thanks goes out to my beta: prussianblue1x2

* * *

Sasuke sat up panting heavily. His loose tee-shirt clung to his damp skin and his ebony hair was falling limply into his face. It had been the same dream. Why was it that when he dreamt it always centered around that incident? Mentally calming himself down, he glanced around his darkened room barely taking notice of his surroundings. He'd only been in his single dorm room for three days now, but being away from his family and home didn't yet seem to be helping with the nightmares. Perhaps moving out of the city had been a bad idea after all. His father had been adamantly against it, but Sasuke felt that he needed to go and leave everything behind him which was why he was now three hours from his childhood home in Tokyo. 

The closing of a door echoed down the corridor as he scooted himself to the edge of his bed and placed his feet onto the cool floor. The warm glow of the sun was slowly starting to seep in through the cracks of the window blinds. Curious as to the time Sasuke glanced at the alarm clock next to his bed, it was five in the morning. Groggily, he got up and stretched before grabbing his bathing things and heading into the empty shower room which was located just a few feet from his room. He didn't like showering amongst other people and had made a habit of either doing it in the early morning or late evening.

As the warm water rushed over his body, his tense muscles began to ease. He closed his eyes tightly and choked back the rising tears and anger that had started to well up within him. Why? Why couldn't he just forget it? Maybe if Itachi hadn't died because of him he would have an easier time, but that wasn't the case. It had been his fault that his brother had died and it made the pain of that night twice as hard to bear. The opening of the door caused Sasuke to jump and hurriedly finish washing. He quickly threw on his robe and then rushed back to his room. It was several hours before classes started, so he decided to make another attempt at sleeping.

* * *

The private school of Konoha Gakuen was located in the heart of the small town of Konoha which was only a few miles outside of Tokyo. It was an older school building which had been built in a more western style and up until only a few years prior had been an all boys school. A new dorm had been built on the opposite side of the campus for girls, but was significantly smaller; thus causing the ratio of guys to girls to remain high, which the headmaster felt it should remain as such. He was an old man, but still a good leader and one that felt mixing the two sexes only caused problems with the learning capabilities of the boys. In other words, the girls were too much of a distraction. 

"Headmaster Sarutobi," A tall man with slicked-back dark hair skidded to a halt before the elder man's desk.

"What is it?" The elderly man slowly raised his still bright brown eyes to meet the young and worried ones of his assistant.

"Asuma-sensei's – well he said that he won't be able to make it back for this school year."

Sarutobi rose quickly from his desk and pounded his hands on its dark oak surface. The messenger took a hesitant step away from his boss, who was known to have a fairly decent temper when it was lost. "So, I suppose my idiotic son has found another girl to dally with?"

"Um, sir … he sent this –" The young man passed Sarutobi a silver embossed envelope which was immediately ripped into. The headmaster's eyes grew large as he read its continents, several times over. He wadded the note up in his bony hand and threw it with a grunt into the waste basket.

"Call the ministry of education … we need a new teacher **immediately**" The young man bowed and scurried from the room. As soon as the door clicked closed, Sarutobi picked up the phone and dialed his son's cell. "Oh, not answering are we?" He gritted through his clinched teeth. "Son, next time you decide to make a life altering decision it would be _nice_ if you would INFORM ME FIRST!" The receiver was slammed down with so much force that it caused the bell inside to jingle quietly. "Stupid impetuous boy … if only he would treat life with the patience and care that he gives to shougi." He plopped back down into his chair gauging the best way to explain the missing teacher to the students. After thinking long and hard on it, the only answer was to tell them the truth – their teacher had gotten married in Las Vegas, America. His head hit the desk with a soft thud as the thoughts of meeting this hastily met and wedded bride flooded his mind. "Stupid, stupid, stupid son."

* * *

"Morning." Nara Shikamaru walked into the noisy classroom with a large yawn and a quiet greeting as he had done so for the past year. A few students paused in their morning activities of being generally loud and playful to greet him, but they each immediately returned to their boyish behavior. Shikamaru plopped down into his desk which was just to the right of Sasuke's own. Sasuke had counted his blessings that it had not been the boy named, Kiba, that had been seated next to him for he was very loud and felt the need to show off to everyone, as he was doing that moment. 

Kiba carelessly climbed onto his friend, Shino's, desk so that he could address the crowd at large. "Hey! Everyone!" The ruckus continued. "Shut the hell up before I kick every one of your asses!!" He yelled after several more attempts at being more polite. Everyone turned around and stared up at the boy with the messy crop of brown hair. He grinned showing off his over-long canines and signaled to a slightly chubby red-headed boy to move a bit closer from his position beside the door. Reluctantly, and with a slight push from another boy nearby, he moved closer to Kiba. His face was filled with the look of one who had been caught doing something wrong.

Next to Sasuke, Shikamaru's head snapped up and he began watching the proceedings with a sharp eye. His awakened interest caused Sasuke to become curious as to what Kiba's plans were. He had only just met everyone at the entrance ceremony and had refused to actually speak to any of them; so therefore, he didn't fully know everyone's personality yet, and it wasn't as if he wanted to either. Most of his fellow students had also made it clear that they wanted nothing to do with him as well. Several had whispered that he seemed dangerous and that they had heard rumors of an infamous gang which his name had been connected to.

"Hey, Kiba! Hurry it up before the teacher gets in here. Otherwise –" a blonde-headed boy to Sasuke's left spoke softly, but there was a deadly tone in his deep voice that made Kiba visibly wince. Sasuke racked his brain trying to remember his name, but all he could think of was Bob and he was positive that wasn't it.

"Yeah, yeah … keep your shirt on. Chouji here has already seen our new teacher. In fact, he _talked_ with him. Why is this important? Well, why not let him tell us – Chouji." Kiba bounced off of his feet and into a sitting position upon the fake wood surface of his desk.

Chouji shyly glanced around the room and then began to speak while he fixed his eyes on his feet. "Well, I – while I was walking from the dorm to the school … I ran into a bit of trouble with a group of third-years. They were harassing me and I couldn't get away from them, when _he_ showed up."

"What's he look like!?" Someone yelled from the far side of the class.

"Well, he's a little taller than Shino. And he's got blonde hair. He's kinda rough though. He intimidated those students so I was able to get here."

"Oh great, we've got a wannabe Onizuka."

"Well, at least this year'll be more interesting than last. I don't think I ever want another female teacher again. I swear she had eyes in the back of her head. Not to mention the fact that she looked like an old toad." Several students agreed with the faceless voice and Sasuke rolled his eyes. What did it matter? They were there to learn not get away with goofing-off during class.

"Well, he seemed nice. He smiled at me after he helped." Chouji glanced sheepishly up at Shikamaru who gave him an encouraging smile.

"Anything else, Chou?" A boy in the front row asked quietly.

"Well, he asked which class I was in and I told him. That was about it."

"Boo … boring Kiba! Why was it necessary to get our attention for _that_?!" Several students began to throw wads of paper at the brown-haired boy who had to duck behind the teacher's podium for cover.

"I thought everyone'd want to know! Yeesh." From out of nowhere, a tennis ball ricocheted off the wall and bounced high off Kiba's forehead. "Ow!" He jumped up and faced the class with an angry glare. "Alright, who did that!? You're gonna be so sorry." Everyone turned around and began talking once more. The class room had returned to its normal chaos while Kiba fumed at the front of it. He rushed into the midst of the crowd and began jumping on random people trying to discover who had hit him. Sasuke groaned annoyed with his fellow classmates. Somehow his old school in Tokyo was looking like a haven compared to this place.

The door opened and in walked one of the three girls who were in the second year at Konoha Gakuen. Sakura was a very intelligent girl who despised the boys' behavior and had already threatened to leave the school and take her family's money with her. It hadn't changed anything at all. Despite the fact that girls were now allowed into the school, it still had the feeling of a boys' school and the male students still behaved as such. Someone paused long enough to whistle at Sakura who froze in her footsteps to glare at the group of boys. "Watch it, or she'll rip your balls off," someone dared to state with a laugh. Sakura started toward one of the boys then thought better of it. She smiled sweetly and took her seat near the door. There were a few laughs before the door opened once more and in walked the only student more quiet than Sasuke, Gaara. He was followed closely by class 2-C's teacher, Gai-sensei.

"Everyone, sit!" Quickly everyone moved into their seats and calmed down. No one wanted to do laps around the school, which seemed to be his favorite form of punishment. He gazed around the class with warm eyes as he appraised his power over the young kids. "Excellent. Your teacher is running a bit late, so I came in to ensure that your class rep takes role before he gets here." The class groaned, but one loud word from Gai and they were sitting straight and quiet once more in their seats.

Kiba rose from his seat and pulled out the sheet of paper which held all the students' names upon it. Slowly he made his way down the list and then sat down in his seat once more. His dark eyes followed Gai-sensei as he left the room. He then counted to fifteen before turning to the class and saying with a bright grin, "as you were!" The noise level in the class room rose once more; however this time it seemed a bit louder than before.

"_I think I have a headache_," Sasuke thought gloomily.

* * *

He paused at the entrance to the main school building and gazed up at the large archway over the stone porch. His bright blue eyes danced with joy as he thought back to the years he had spent at Konoha Gakuen. "Ahh, those were good times," he mused quietly to himself. A bright smile danced across his face as he rolled up the sleeves of his gray blazer and with a determined air marched up the stairs and into the building. "Time to make some new memories!"

* * *

The noise had risen to an all new high as a large group had begun to sing songs they had learned back in kindergarten – at the top of their lungs and with new dirty lyrics. Sasuke's head slipped from his hand, which had been bracing it up, and onto his desk with a soft thunk. "I hate this class," he mumbled angrily. 

Due to the noise, no one noticed when the door opened and a young blonde man entered the room. No one noticed still as he began to write upon the blackboard, and everyone continued to not notice as he pulled out a rather large ball of rubber bands. They finally noticed as those rubber bands began to fling through the air with deadly accuracy. Kiba was the first to feel the sting on the back of his head and after a few more students were hit, they had all banded together against this intruder.

"What's the big idea? Hitting us with those." Kiba walked forward with a determined step and glared up at this new person.

"Good. I've got your attention." There was a bright smile upon his face and a mischievous glint in his blue eyes. He rested a thick hand upon Kiba's shoulder and directed him toward his seat. "Sit." Any protests that remained died in the students' throats after the strongly voiced command.

"Who're you?" Kiba asked rather impatiently once everyone had settled into their desks.

"I am your new teacher. Uzumaki Naruto. If you're good you can call me Naruto, but for now it's Uzumaki-sensei or Uzumaki-sama."

"Sama!?" Several students voiced noisily and incredulously.

"You've got to be kidding me," Kiba mumbled under his breath. His new teacher turned on him and pressed his face an inch away from Kiba's.

"Say that again and you'll find out how serious I am." Kiba swallowed hard and nodded as Naruto pulled away from him. "Has role been taken?" Various 'yes's' were muttered and the blonde teacher grinned. "So who's the class rep?" All fingers, except for Sasuke's, pointed at Kiba. "Ah, of course. It would be the loudest out of all of you. Things haven't changed much then." The students exchanged confused glances, but before they could ask any questions the door opened and Iruka-sensei, the History teacher, walked in.

"Naruto-kun, homeroom is over."

"Uh, yeah," he chuckled softly as he scratched nervously at the back of his neck. The class watched with great intensity as he clumsily gathered his belongings. "I'll see you guys for Cultural Studies."

While most of the students merely shrugged off their new teacher's behavior, Sasuke was watching disdainfully as Naruto made his way out of the classroom. The school year had just gone from terrible to horrific.

* * *

Sasuke plopped down into one of the empty seats in the dorm cafeteria. He was sitting as far away from everyone as possible, but somehow several of his fellow students found their way to his table. The first was a third year student, Lee. He was a chatterbox and the last person with whom Sasuke wanted to share his dinner. "Hey Sasuke! How were your classes today? I heard you have a new teacher." Sasuke's response was an icy glare which caused Lee to squirm slightly. "Ah. There's Neiji." He rose from his seat and hurried over to where his roommate and friend was sitting. However, Sasuke's reprieve was short-lived. Soon Kiba, Chouji, Shikamaru, Sai, and Gaara all found themselves sitting around the circular table which Sasuke was currently occupying. 

"Then what happened Kiba?" Chouji asked eagerly.

"Well naturally she melted. What else could she do when faced with such charm?"

"Die?" Shikamaru's dark eyes glistened slightly with ill suppressed humor as he muttered around his chopsticks.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't just say that. I'd like to eat diner in peace for once."

"So would I," Sasuke spoke softly but firmly to the group at large. They turned to look at him, but they obviously didn't care what he wanted for they all began to listen to Kiba's tale of seduction once more.

"So how far did you go?" Chouji asked, his eyes bright and overly curious.

Kiba chuckled deeply within his chest and with a proud smirk on his face stated, "That's something between me and her."

"Aw. C'mon Kiba! That's cheap." Chouji pouted as he turned his attention to the massive amount of food before him. He was on the Sumo team, but his obvious love for food had little to do with his training regimen. Sasuke glared at the people surrounding him. Why for the past few days had they all decided to hang around him? He started to gather up his dinner when a loud whistle pierced through the cacophony of voices in the cafeteria. Everyone's eyes focused on the source of the interruption. There in the doorway stood Sasuke's homeroom and Cultural Studies teacher, Uzumaki Naruto.

"Where are the second year students?" His bright blue eyes scanned the crowd as slowly hands began to raise into the air. He quickly began to count each hand by pointing at them and then nodded happily. "After you finish eating, meet me in the second year common room," with that he turned and left the room.

"Wonder why he wants to see us," Sai mused more to himself than aloud.

"Say, wasn't Asuma-sensei supposed to be our dorm head this year?" Shikamaru asked Kiba, his mouth full of rice.

"Yeah. I think he was." Kiba's eyes focused on something above Chouji's head who tried in vain to figure out what it was that he was staring at. "I guess that means that the great Uzumaki has taken over that spot as well. Joy." His sarcasm was not lost on Sasuke. In fact he completely agreed with him. There was something about this new teacher that completely unsettled him. Maybe it was the way he had stared at him for most of the lesson today, or perhaps it was just the way his smile seemed to make the room too bright. Sasuke returned to gathering up his food and headed for the common room where he found a nice quiet corner away from the music, video game playing, television watching, and general roughhousing.

Despite his efforts to finish eating before Naruto arrived, the blonde teacher came striding into the room only moments after Sasuke had. He tried his best not to make eye contact with the teacher, but just as he glanced up at him, Naruto's eyes bored into his own. They held eyes for a few moments before Sasuke tore his away and began to glare at his food. It didn't really come as much of a surprise to him when only seconds later, he sensed Naruto's presence looming over him. "It's Sasuke, right?" The one in question grunted softly as he continued to eat. "I've noticed that you like to stay quiet and away from everyone else."

"And what if I do? It's not any of your business really." Sasuke's eyes darted up to meet Naruto's briefly and he noted a strong twitching in his teacher's left eye.

"A bit touchy, huh?" Naruto received a glare from his young student. "You know, it's not healthy to not participate. Your life'll pass you by if you're not careful."

"I didn't ask for your advice. I'm fine the way I am, and if you try to butt in for anything other than academic reasons, I _will_ fight you."

"Arrogant little bas–" Naruto's eye twitch had transformed into an angry grimace and his hands were raised as if he wanted to throttle Sasuke.

"Uzumaki-sensei, we're all here now. What was it you wanted to talk to us about?" Kiba was standing behind the teacher, one fist upon his hip and a bored expression upon his face.

"Um, yeah … sorry didn't know you were all here yet." Naruto grinned as if nothing was wrong and moved to the middle of the room. "Quiet everyone! I just wanted to let you guys know that I'm going to be your dorm head for this year." A ripple of talking washed over the room at this announcement; however, at the sound of his voice everyone quieted down once more. "I thought since we've got a few hours here we could get to know one another." There was a series of groans, but most people found a spot to sit down.

"So are you gonna ask us the questions or do we get to ask you?" Kiba queried from his perch upon the back of the threadbare sofa.

"Ask away."

The chuckle which tumbled from Kiba's mouth had the distinct tone of danger and caused Sasuke to want to find out just how the new teacher was going to fair. "Fine then. How old are you?"

"Twenty-two."

"Hmm … thought you'd be older. So what's your policy on curfews?"

He stood quietly, his face contorting as he thought vigorously on how to answer. When he at last landed on a decision, he smiled brightly with a triumphant gleam in his eyes. "They're staying."

A resounding, "aw" filled the room as the boys fell over and made a show of being highly disappointed in their new dorm leader.

"My turn. How many of you play sports?" A large portion of the boys raised their hands cautiously as they wondered why he was asking this of them. "Wow. That's a lot. I played soccer when I was in high school. In fact, my picture is in the main lobby of the administration building. Go and see if you don't believe me," Naruto added after some voiced heavy skepticism. "I was the captain."

"So, you went here then?" Chouji asked quietly from his seat next to Shikamaru.

"Yup. And I got lucky enough to be sent back here to teach you guys." Naruto's eyes scanned the crowd and lingered for a few moments on Sasuke who was glaring at him.

Sasuke rose from his seat disgusted with the little question and answer session. He was going to sleep and not even the fires of Hell would stop him from leaving that room. Silently, he strode past Naruto who just watched as he left.

"Don't worry about him. He's been like that since he got here."

"Really?" Naruto broke his fixed gaze upon the now closed door to look at Kiba, the one who had just explained Sasuke's behavior.

"Yeah. He's a new student this year. He's from Tokyo and a real pain in the ass. He usually acts as if he's so much better than all of us."

"He's arrogant and rude, that's for sure. I don't think any of us has a good thing to say about him," Sai voiced quietly to resounding affirmations. Naruto turned once more to the door, his brows drawn together as he silently contemplated the actions of Sasuke.

* * *

Sasuke threw himself belly down onto his bed. The blue eyes of his new teacher floated through his mind as he stared unseeing at the far wall of his room. There had been pity and compassion within those eyes, the last two things which Sasuke wanted at the moment. All he desired was to be left alone and to be allowed to study. That wasn't that much to ask for, was it? It must be some sick joke that his new teacher was this nosy person who seemed to want to heal whatever was wrong with him. 

He rolled onto his back and began to stare out the angled window above his bed. Maybe continuing with high school had been a bad choice, but that would have meant he had to work which entailed that he would be interacting with people. That single reason was what had kept him in school. He would graduate from high school, then find some career where he needn't deal with people. Sasuke's bottom lip began to quiver on its own free will as tears slowly filled his large brown eyes. He pressed his hands to his face trying to hide it from the world. "I'm sick of crying damn it!" With a loud smack, he slapped his hands against the sides of his face causing his cheeks to turn a light pink. This was all Uzumaki-sensei's fault. The tears, the anger, if he had only left him alone then none of this would have resurfaced. He had been doing fine until those blue eyes had looked at him. "Fucking bastard. I won't let you win … if you want to try and fix me, you're in for the fight of your life, Oh Great Uzumaki," he vowed angrily to silence of the room.

-------------------  
TBC :)

_Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, TV-Tokyo, & Shounen Jump_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Notes_: First off I'd like to apologize for the length of this chapter. Usually my chapters are much longer than this, but for some reason I wasn't able to get as much out of this chapter than I thought I could.  
Anyway, I hope everyone enjoys this chapter.

Warnings: None  
Chapter Status: COMPLETE

**Important announcement!**  
I just want to let everyone know that I am going to finish this story before I post anymore of it. I've got a new job that takes up much more time than my old one, and it's proven difficult to try and write as much as I could before. However, by doing it this way, when it's complete no one will have to wait anymore than a few days for the next chapter.  
If you want to know how far along I am go to my livejournal (siberianknight) and look for my Tuesday posts. You can also friend me if that would be easier for you. I don't mind either way. :)

* * *

Sasuke entered through the gray aluminum door with a bit of apprehension. He had heard about the art teacher, but had yet to actually meet him since said teacher had been ill for the first week of classes. From what he had learned through whispers amongst fellow students, the teacher known only as Jiraiya was a bit … eccentric. There were rumors of illicit affairs with fellow female teachers as well as hints that he was an insatiable flirt.

As Sasuke settled into a seat near the window and far away from the rest of the class, the door opened once more and in walked Sai. Despite observing his fellow students, Sai was one whom Sasuke hadn't quite figured out. He smiled yet it was always an expression of coolness not warmth. Plus his voice never rose above a quiet and steady tone, and even though Gaara was like that as well, Sai seemed distant and unapproachable. Sasuke decided that having him sit next to him was better than a more talkative student. He never said one word as he unpacked his pencils and charcoal, nor as he set up his drawing pad on his drawing bench. "I thought I'd keep you company today," he finally stated quietly once his unpacking was finished.

"I don't want company. That's why I'm here and not over there." Sai smiled into the face of Sasuke's glare, but as the two's eyes met, a shiver ran through Sasuke. Was it possible that Sai knew? His heart began to race at the sheer possibility. He didn't need sympathy or any help that he may offer. He was fine on his own; he could take care of himself. The creek of the door dispelled the sudden tension between the two boys. Their teacher had arrived.

The moment Sasuke laid eyes on him, he decided that eccentric was not a fair description of the art instructor for Konoha Gakuen. The tall man had long stark white messy hair that fell just below his bottom. He wore a blazingly bright lemon yellow and light green Hawaiian shirt, khaki shorts, and sandals. "He looks like fun," Sai whispered under his breath. Sasuke simply stared at the other boy.

Jiraiya stepped onto the square stage in the center of the room and held his hand up for silence, which he instantly got. "Boys, welcome to Jiraiya's art experience! I feel that you will learn much more from me than that other teacher," he gritted his teeth momentarily and Sasuke wondered briefly what was so wrong with Orochimaru-sensei. "Anyway, today we will be focusing on the female form! And to help us –" Many of the boys perked up and began speculating who the model may be, but their hopes were quickly dashed as their fellow classmate, Ino, walked into the room wearing her school bathing suit. "Ino-chan from class 2-C." He turned to her with a smile and thanked her quietly.

"Yeah, yeah … you better not back out of your end of the agreement though. I want my money." Ino smiled sweetly, a stark contrast to her threatening tone.

Sweating slightly, Jiraiya turned back to the class. "Take out your charcoal. We'll begin with some warm up exercises. Thirty-seconds to begin with. And … start!" The soft beep of his wristwatch was drowned out by the sudden furious scraping noises of charcoal against paper. Sasuke decided to focus simply on her shape for the time being and began to quickly gesture out Ino's form. After Jiraiya called 'time' Sasuke felt Sai's eyes on him.

"What?" He asked agitated by the boy's nosy behavior.

"Just looking at your work. How long have you been drawing?"

Sasuke turned back to face his drawing pad and frowned at it. He wasn't one to reveal much about himself, and he certainly didn't want to open up to Sai. Why couldn't he just leave him alone?

"It's good to have something therapeutic like drawing to get you through rough times. At least it helped me, and I'd wager that it's helped you too. But perhaps in a different way." Sasuke's heart skipped a beat as his head whipped about to face Sai. He _did_ know, but how? How could he know when even Sasuke's own parents had never known what had happened?

"Wha--?" Sasuke sputtered quietly. Sai turned and smiled that same cool icy grin just as always causing Sasuke to lose hope that he would find out exactly what he knew. Meanwhile, Jiraiya was walking around behind his students seeing exactly how they were faring.

"Okay, several more thirty second sketches and then we'll move on." He turned to Ino, a bright smirk on his face. Despite the fact that the man was definitely middle aged, he still was handsome and Sasuke could see why girls would flock around him; however, he was fairly confident that the man was a pervert which most likely scared any girls away after he spoke with them. "Now, Ino-chan please find another comfortable position. Yes, yes … but why don't you –"

"Teacher or not. Touch me and you die." Jiraiya laughed nervously and backed away from the young blonde.

"Of course, of course. Just simply thinking of helping."

"Right," Ino drawled with a strong hint of doubt in her voice.

The remainder of the class continued in the same manner. Jiraiya would get close to Ino thinking of helping her, but she would then threaten him with violence. All the while, Sai continued to occasionally glance with his all-knowing eyes at Sasuke which made him feel very uncomfortable. He was dying to ask what the other boy knew, but Sai left rather quickly once Jiraiya released everyone. Despite looking for him, Sasuke was unable to locate Sai for the remainder of the afternoon.

With a heavy sigh he plopped down into an empty chair which was nestled in a lonely corner of the common room. Surely it had merely been a coincidence that what Sai had said matched with the incidents of Sasuke's past; it just wasn't possible that he had figured out something that not even his own parents had. A slow chill ran down his spine as Sai's cold smile flashed briefly through his mind. In an attempt to rid himself of the sickening feeling that was steadily settling in his stomach, Sasuke shook his head from side to side gently; however it failed to completely clear certain images from forming in his mind. He glared down at his hands as they began to shake. He would fight this and win just like always, his past would not control him.

"Everything alright?" The voice was way too cheery for Sasuke's current mood. Why of all people did he have to be the one to approach him now? "Uchiha? Are you okay? Do I need to get the nurse?" His head shot up as his teacher finished his sentence.

"No! I'm fine. As I said before, this is none of your business – so leave me alone." He rose and began to push past Naruto, but was stopped by a gentle yet firm hand upon his shoulder.

"Look, I know that you don't like me … but I can see that something is seriously bothering you and you _are_ one of my students. That's why I'm worried about you." Sasuke's black eyes slowly raised to look into the bright baby blues which were staring at him with a measure of concern in their depths. He was worried about him, just like his parents, but that didn't matter. No one could stop the nightmares nor reverse what had happened. Anger bubbled up to the surface of Sasuke's being. His face slowly contorted into a ferocious glare and he reached up to rip Naruto's unwanted hand away from his body.

"Don't **ever** touch me again. I won't allow you." There was a brief flash of surprise in Naruto's eyes before he laughed lightly.

"Won't allow me? Are you threatening me?" Sasuke opened his mouth to retort, but Naruto waved him off with a sly smile. "I don't need to know. I get it … you don't like me. If you want to wallow in your troubles then that's fine, but I thought that maybe I could extend an offer to you. If you ever feel like talking, my room is open. Don't hesitate. Whatever you've been through – it doesn't matter," he gave up after seeing the annoyed look upon Sasuke's face intensify. "I don't know why I'm even suggesting this to you. You obviously don't want it." Sasuke's dark eyebrows raised slightly at his teacher's abrupt change of mind. He watched silently as Naruto walked over to Kiba and Chouji who were sitting in the opposite corner from himself. In their past few meetings, Naruto had shown signs of being an impatient type of person, but at the same time he seemed to have a large heart that just wanted to help everyone. Sasuke wasn't sure if he could be trusted or not, but he knew that he couldn't tell him everything about what had happened that night. There were just some things that no one needed to know.

* * *

The aluminum door shut with a soft click behind Naruto who slumped sleepily against its cool surface. The day had been long and tiring, especially the teachers' meeting earlier that night. The headmaster had been kind with him, but Naruto was convinced that the old man didn't think he was doing a good job. The boys were too wild and not learning what was in the text books which had been chosen by Sarutobi-sensei himself. Most likely that was why the headmaster had not been fully appreciative of Naruto's unique approach to the teaching of the world cultures.

The blonde rose to his full height of five feet ten and stumbled sleepily to his bed where, with a soft plop, he collapsed on his stomach. He had hoped that by becoming a teacher he could help kids, but there was one in particular that was giving him a hard time. Uchiha Sasuke wanted help from no one. Naruto had heard the story of how he had become distant after his brother's death and that it had been his decision to leave home and attend Konoha Gakuen. He couldn't help but wonder, however, if Sasuke's father had been part of the problem. In fact Hatake Kakashi, the Literature teacher, had pulled him aside to tell him about Sasuke's father's abruptness just two days prior. He had speculated himself that it was a possible explanation as to why the boy behaved the way he did, but Naruto wanted to wait until he had actually met the man before he made any kind of decision regarding Sasuke's father.

Naruto lifted his messy blonde head and gazed at the picture which sat by his bed. There within a simple silver frame was a photo of three people. Naruto had been only six at the time of the photograph and he had stood close to his mother's side. She held his small hand in hers while her other was locked in the tight grasp of her husband's. Naruto greatly resembled his father, but his stubborn will was that of his mother. He _would_ get Sasuke to talk to him. He didn't care what it took, but he was determined to get through to him. Not necessarily to find out what was wrong, but just to be his friend. There was something about Sasuke, something that drew him toward the boy. "Do you think I'm doing the right thing?" His bright blue eyes stared into those of his father waiting for some feeling to come over him, some sign to let him know that he was in fact going down the right path.

He rolled over onto his back and stared up at the dim light which illuminated his ceiling with a warm yellow glow. The sounds of spring drifted in through his partly open window and a soft breeze was blowing across his bed. A small smirk slowly started to dance across his face as ideas began to flit through his mind as to how he would deal with Sasuke. "He won't know what hit him."

Naruto strode into the now familiar classroom the next day with renewed vigor. His bright blue eyes scanned the group of rowdy boys, and girl, with a light twinkle as he thought of how one day Sasuke would thank him for his efforts. He stopped his casual perusal of his students when he noticed that the one he most wanted to see was not present. "Where's Sasuke?" The crowd continued in its usual noisy fashion with the exception of Sai who ventured quietly up to his teacher.

"I'm afraid he's not coming today. He – well he's most likely locked himself in his room."

"Huh? Is he sick?"

"No, not exactly."

Naruto sighed with exasperation. "Then what's wrong?"

"My answer would be speculation. If you'd like I can take you to his room." Sai moved toward the door quietly awaiting his teacher's decision. Naruto glanced back at the class who had yet to notice his presence. With a lazy shrug he turned to Sai and nodded. The two walked in silence to the dorm, it wasn't until they reached Sasuke's door that either of them said a word. "I believe it would be best if you were the one who knocked, Sensei." Naruto simply nodded and rapped lightly on the door. Silence greeted him. He cast an impatient look over his shoulder at Sai, who merely shrugged. Naruto knocked a bit harder this time and was rewarded with the sounds of movement within the room.

The door slowly opened and a red-eyed Sasuke poked his head out to see who had disturbed him. "Oh, it's you." He started to close the door on Naruto, but his teacher grabbed the handle and held on with all his strength to keep it open. "Look, I don't feel well. Sorry for not informing you."

"May I come in?" Naruto ground out through gritted teeth.

"No." Sasuke shoved against the door in an attempt to rid himself of his obnoxious teacher; however, Naruto was faster and managed to squeeze half of himself through the opening. "I didn't give you permission to come in, _sir_."

"Oh, so sorry … I thought you did," Naruto's grin was strained as he pulled the rest of himself into the dorm room. The aluminum door snapped shut with a sharp click. They were alone together.

"Leave."

"No. You don't look all that sick to me. So why aren't you in class?"

"I have my reasons." Sasuke turned his back on Naruto and walked over to his computer desk. He clicked off his monitor, which Naruto had caught a brief glimpse of an email which Sasuke had apparently been reading.

"Mind sharing those reasons?"

"Yes." Sasuke kept his back turned to his teacher. He could feel the anger building up inside him and didn't trust himself to face Naruto. Being expelled for beating up his teacher didn't sit too well with him.

"Really? How about you share them anyway."

Sasuke wheeled around and his glare should've killed any defiance within Naruto, but the blonde stood with his arms crossed and an expectant look upon his face. For a moment Sasuke's mind went blank. What was it that he had wanted to say to him? He couldn't seem to even remember why exactly he was so angry _at_ Naruto.

"I'm waiting. Your reasons had better be good since you have a test today."

The cockiness in his teacher's voice brought back every ounce of fury which he had felt before looking into Naruto's eyes. "Why do you even care!? It's not like I _have_ to be here. I can go home you know!"

"True, but I don't think you want to." Sasuke's glare intensified as Naruto inched his way closer to his pupil. "I think that you're here because you don't want to be there, am I right?"

"I told you it's none of your business." Sasuke's entire body tensed as his teacher came within grabbing distance.

Naruto paused in his approach of Sasuke as he noticed him begin to tremble. He gazed into his eyes only to see a strong defiance within their ebony depths. "What's –" Naruto reached out to Sasuke only to have his hand slapped viciously away. Sasuke backed away from the desk and stood pressed against the wall. The trembling was gone, replaced with a deadly gleam in his eyes and fists raised in waiting.

"Leave me alone." His words were strained and Naruto understood that he wasn't going to get any further by pressuring Sasuke. The blonde backed away, his hands raised in a show of peace.

"You can make up the test this weekend." Naruto opened the door, but before leaving he turned one last time to face his student. "I expect you to be there with no excuses." The door closed softly behind him and Sasuke sank to the floor, his entire being shaking. It had been a long while since he had reacted such to the nearness of another person. He pulled his knees up to his chest and stared blankly at the far wall. He wouldn't let those age old memories destroy him. That was why he was there away from the home he had shared with his brother, away from the horror that had happened not so long ago.

"I'm over this! So why can't I be normal!?" Sasuke sobbed to the room at large. Hot angry tears began to streak down his face as forced himself to stand. He was going to class and taking that test, but it was just to prove to himself that he could be a normal student.

--  
TBC

_Naruto belongs to Kishimoto Masashi, TV-Tokyo, & Shounen Jump_


End file.
